SWE 619 Course Syllabus


Schedule

Object-Oriented Software Specification and Construction
Spring 2013


Instructor:	Adjunct Professor Jim Tray
Email:	jtray@gmu.edu
URL:	http://cs.gmu.edu/~jtray/619.html
Class Hours:	Thursday 7:20 pm - 10:00 pm; Sandbridge Hall 107
Prerequisite:	SWE Foundation Courses or equivalent
Office Hours:	available by appointment
GTA:	Ehsan Kouroshfar Office Hours: TBA

Course Description

To give the students a solid understanding of modern software construction. To prepare students to construct sequential and concurrent programs. To encourage the construction of software systems of high quality. In-depth study of software construction in a modern language including control structuring and packaging. Concepts such as information hiding, data abstraction, and object-based and object-oriented software construction are discussed and illustrated. This course is part of the core of the SWE program and utilizes the Java programming language.

Course Materials

Barbara Liskov with John Guttag. Program Development in Java . Addison Wesley, 2001, ISBN 0-201-65768-6. Required.
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Joshua Bloch. Effective Java. Second Edition. Addison Wesley, 2008, ISBN 0-321-35668-3. Required.
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Some assignments may require programming techniques not covered in the two required texts. I will provide pointers to online material at the appropriate time. Required.
Any Java reference, either text or online. Recommended. Online Java documenation is available from Oracle.

Assignments

Submit assignments that are Java programs electronically via Blackboard.

Note: Homework is due exactly at the start of class on the due date. Paper and pencil homework can be brought directly to class. Or, you can submit an electronic version via Blackboard.

Important: For programs, please submit a paper copy as well as the electronic version. This is because of the way the University runs it printing services. Thank you for your support.

Details about specific requirements for each assignment are given with each assignment.

Early homework assignments focus on theortical aspects from Liskov. Later homework assignments reinforce specific programming techniques, as well as the design points made in Bloch. Each homework assignment is designed to be fairly short, and homework is due on a weekly basis.

Quizzes

Each class, except for the first class, begins with a short quiz. Each quiz covers material from the previous session(s).

The goal of the quizzes is to keep students abreast of the material covered in class. Because of the quizzes, there is no midterm exam.

Missed Homework and Quizzes

In recognition of the fact that many students have occasional but unavoidable commitments that preclude attendance at every class, I drop each student's lowest homework score and 2 lowest quiz scores prior to final grade computations.

Late homework will receive a maximum of 50% credit.

There are no make-up quizzes. Please do not ask for an exception.

Final Exam

A final exam is held during the University-scheduled exam period. No make-up test will be given for the final examination.

Honor System:

Students are reminded that the honor system governs all work turned in for credit. Each assignment must be worked on individually. A submission carries with it an implicit statement that the submission is your own work. You may discuss the requirements and syntactical issues, but not solutions or designs. Collaboration is not allowed on the quizzes or on the final. I will refer violators to the GMU Honor Committee according to the procedures given in the GMU Course Catalog. Further details available at the CS Department's Honor Code page.

Grading

Grades are computed as: Assignments (30%), Quizzes (30%), Final (40%).

Updates

As the semester progresses, I post notices about changes to the course updates page.